What is the hardest job you've ever done?

The hardest job I've ever had was when I was a teacher. The hardest subject and grade for me was 11th grade chemistry.

I had to edit this because I felt compelled to denote why teaching 11th grade chemisty was a tough job. It's hard to be a 22 year old, raised in a nuclear, middle class family who attended one of the top ten high schools in the state, to then turn around and manage thirty 17 year olds who didn't have those privileges. On top of that, the subject is one of the hardest H.S. subjects for students, plus I wasn't any good at it in college. Trying to relate something I barely grasped to a bunch of people who didn't give rat's tail was difficult. Throw on top of this the constant disruptions, yelling, cursing, and my overall desire to kick all their asses. Why learn it anyway? They could always live off welfare or work at the rubber plant nearby. Oh, I also took this class over midyear after the football coach's failed attempts. By that point more than 2/3 of the class had F's, and I was trying to pile new material onto people that had no foundation on it to begin with. So....what'd I do? I stuck it out another year, quit, became a city cop, and went looking for the little ba****ds that gave me a hard time and their parents too....among other things.


The most difficult to get along with boss I've ever had is the one I've got now.

The hardest job I've had so far was as a tech transfer commercialization consultant. I know it doesn't sound very stressful. The work itself wasn't so bad I guess, but the work environment was crazy mostly due to the CEO who had some serious issues. I know one person who quit on their first day and several who quit within a month. If you lasted longer than 6 months with the company without having a nervous breakdown (which I assure you was very common) you were considered to have the patience of God or the nerves of steel. I lasted 1.5 years and I often wondered how I did that. The stress level was unbelievable and 24 hour shifts or longer (with no break) were not uncommon. I once had 7 projects due in 8 business days. By my contract, that should have been most of a month's worth of work. I earned less than $500 for all of that.

I volunteer in the Emergency room at the moment and I am amazed at how relaxing it is in comparison to when I did that other job! Ironically, it was the consulting gig that made me consider a career in medicine since I did a lot of life sciences projects.

EdLongshanks said:

The worst environment that I ever worked in was with a bunch of criminals who were either just out of jail or soon returning. They all chain smoked in the little office and if the job had gone on very long I would have ended up with emphysema. The FBI came in one day and arrested my team lead. They'd have fist fights in the middle of the work day...The paychecks eventually started bouncing. It took me 3 more months before I found another job. Bad days, bad days.

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I worked in a restaurant once was that was just like this.

Worst and best job was at a nonprofit org where I was middle management. I was able to affect a lot of lives through the grants written, but the politics and pile-as-much-as possible on the middle manager positions (i.e. 10 programs, 30 staff, service numbers over 2000, and cover ten counties) was the worst.

Almost walked out the day I realized I had been lied to about the FMLA leave I was able to take per company policy (was told it was on a running calendar year versus standard Jan-Dec calendar). Would have, had I not had children and their health coverage to consider.

But I digress...

Most physical, by far, was in a factory- 14 hour days, 6 days per week. But man, was I fit at the end of that summer. And, I made it out of undergrad with zero debt. How cool is that?

familyaerospace said:

The hardest job I've had so far was as a tech transfer commercialization consultant. I know it doesn't sound very stressful. The work itself wasn't so bad I guess, but the work environment was crazy mostly due to the CEO who had some serious issues. I know one person who quit on their first day and several who quit within a month. If you lasted longer than 6 months with the company without having a nervous breakdown (which I assure you was very common) you were considered to have the patience of God or the nerves of steel. I lasted 1.5 years and I often wondered how I did that. The stress level was unbelievable and 24 hour shifts or longer (with no break) were not uncommon. I once had 7 projects due in 8 business days. By my contract, that should have been most of a month's worth of work. I earned less than $500 for all of that.

I volunteer in the Emergency room at the moment and I am amazed at how relaxing it is in comparison to when I did that other job! Ironically, it was the consulting gig that made me consider a career in medicine since I did a lot of life sciences projects.

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lol. I'm ready to quit, but I think my health is still fine except for three or four tension headaches every week. However, several others at the office are now on medication after working for our current boss. Many have quit. At our station there are 50-54 people, and at least half of those have come and gone in the time I've been there.

I was a structural welder for Schueck Steel company for 3 years. Everyday I was 80+ ft in the air with a stick welder or SMAW. I worked 60+ hours a week until the economy did its thing to the jobs. I am now a substitute teacher and full time student.

I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. As nontrad's we are awesome because we had to bust our ***** and get dirty before we got to do what we do now.

My hardest job is the one that I had a couple of years ago with Maricopa County Health Department HIV Services Division. I was a disease investigations specialist and I was tasked with going out to the field to hunt down indviduals that were HIV+ but hadn't come back to the clinic to get their test results. These were long days as you might imagine and I walked up and down the streets in some pretty seedy neighborhoods. Once, I was wearing the wrong colors in this one neighborhood in S. Phoenix and this guys started throwing their set at me. One guy walks over and I could see that he had a pistol sticking out of his waste band so I showed him my ID and explained to him what I was doing. I ended up giving him an his homies an HIV 101 lesson.

The nastiest job that I ever had was in the mid-90s. I had this temp agency job and they sent me to the City of Houston Public Works Dept. They had this large trucks that they used to clean the sewers and septic tanks out with and my job was to climb in the back of these tanks and spray the crap out of them with a high powered hose. The smell was ungodly and even though we wore masks and protective suits, the smell would just permeate our skin and hair. I couldn't get clean enough. All that for $8.95 an hour plus a .75 shift diff...

graduate2be said:

My hardest job is the one that I had a couple of years ago with Maricopa County Health Department HIV Services Division. I was a disease investigations specialist and I was tasked with going out to the field to hunt down indviduals that were HIV+ but hadn't come back to the clinic to get their test results. These were long days as you might imagine and I walked up and down the streets in some pretty seedy neighborhoods. Once, I was wearing the wrong colors in this one neighborhood in S. Phoenix and this guys started throwing their set at me. One guy walks over and I could see that he had a pistol sticking out of his waste band so I showed him my ID and explained to him what I was doing. I ended up giving him an his homies an HIV 101 lesson.

The nastiest job that I ever had was in the mid-90s. I had this temp agency job and they sent me to the City of Houston Public Works Dept. They had this large trucks that they used to clean the sewers and septic tanks out with and my job was to climb in the back of these tanks and spray the crap out of them with a high powered hose. The smell was ungodly and even though we wore masks and protective suits, the smell would just permeate our skin and hair. I couldn't get clean enough. All that for $8.95 an hour plus a .75 shift diff...

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Sounds like an episode of Dirty Jobs.

The hardest job I've ever done was as an Infantry Reconnaissance Platoon Leader in Afghanistan. Hard because ground reconnaissance in Afghanistan is a total exercise in futility and frustration.

A distant second would be hauling alfalfa square bales (grew up on a farm).

The hardest thing I've ever done, physically, mentally, and emotionally was Army Ranger School. A 62-day suck-fest where you don't eat or sleep. I was in the shape of my life with a BMI of 22-23 going into it, and still managed to lose close to 30 lbs.

EdLongshanks said:

Ok, Ranger school wins. But I'm not sure it counts as a comparison to med-school because we know, without a doubt, that only the very top physical specimens manage to finish. Bow down, Bow down, salaam, salaam.

I'm hoping that Med-school isn't quite as cut-throat.

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You know, actually, there's a fair amount of luck that goes into it. Some of the biggest physical specimens drop out immediately and some of the guys who look like 90 lbs weaklings are pillars of strength. It's really about mental toughness. It certainly was tough though. The overall attrition rate is about 50% and the first time pass (don't have to repeat a phase) is about 20%. It certainly was cut throat from the perspective of the instructors. They'd just as soon fail you as look at you (while calling you every expletive in the book). It was good training though.

Medical School has paled in comparison as far as ruthlessness goes. But so has everything.

Some of it has been applicable too. At Ranger School, I learned that I can't function without sleep. As a result, I never pull all-nighters.

I worked out to sea in the N. Atlantic and N. Pacific in the winter fishing seasons as a fisheries observer. I went to sea for 3weeks - 3 months on boats that didn't have heads and rotated coffin bunks with fishermen. Works schedule was 20 on 4 off. I was the only female (considered bad luck in the fishing industry) and it was so cold we didn't change clothes during the trip; typically wore 2 sets of long johns, a pair of sweats, ski pants and jacket under oilers. No bathing, toileting in a bucket on an icy deck with salt water spraying over you. Lots of injuries, came home with bruises and cuts that I didn't even know existed. Some boats were amped up using drugs just to function at that schedule. Observers were not popular on the boats (government agents rarely are) and the work was brutally physical. I did everything from shuck and sample scallops by the thousands to perform full necropsies on recently deceased dolphins.

We lost steering at one point, and the coast guard told us they couldn't send anyone out unless there were men in the water. I was in a full tilt; essentially at the edge of a capsize due to a rogue wave. I've been aboard when we have lost a man to sea...and when we have had life threatening injuries. I have also been quarentied at sea due to a crew member coming down with encephalitis with air drops of prophalactic drugs (we worked with a coastie chopper crew in 30 ft seas to get the crew member to safety.)

I realize residency will be challenging, and even more so because it isn't required in my field...so it is optional to work for next to nothing while paying back loans. However, there is one thing I always remind myself of; I CAN walk out. It may mean never working in my field, but that is still a choice and option that I have that I did NOT have while working at sea; at sea, the danger is always there, and you can't leave, no matter how horrible it gets....at least not till that trip is over. Doesn't matter how dangerous crew and captain are, how broken the boat is, or who is sick or dead; you can't walk out the door...and you are still responsible for the lives of your mates, and you have to trust them with your life.

So, yeah, the worst day of vet school isn't so bad. Husband's ex military, and I hold onto his philosophy; Every day you are still breathing and no one is trying to kill you is a good day; everything beyond that is a silver lining.

BTW, I loved my job at sea....and was laid off due to federal budget cuts. The sad thing is, no matter how much I loved it, I couldn't go back to it now. The memory of the difficult parts overwhelms my tolerance (though I would make good money over the summer if I went back) of the work....but there were some awesome moments too.

I have also worked as a field hand/picker, a steel and aluminum welder in a manufactured building company and a custom utility truck company (again the only female in the department), a CNA (never, ever again.), a paper delivery person, and a dog trainer for seperation anxiety and aggresion cases.

All I can say is it has been an interesting and fun life. I am always amused when people tell me how horrible residencies are and how they ruin relationships and such...and all I can think is 'if it is that bad, you can always make the choice to leave...may not be a good choice, but it is a choice. far better than no choice at all!'

I'll be the boring one here. Most difficult? Mother. Challenging? Mother. Most emotionally and physically exhausting? Mother. With no grandparents nearby.

I've had other jobs. Crappy jobs, jobs where I got yelled at daily, jobs where I worked my butt off, sweated so much I lost 10 pounds a day... but nothing compares to being a parent. Most difficult, demanding, exhausting, emotional rollercoaster, unappreciated, and yet rewarding job. Ever. All rolled into one.

Old Grunt said:

You know, actually, there's a fair amount of luck that goes into it. Some of the biggest physical specimens drop out immediately and some of the guys who look like 90 lbs weaklings are pillars of strength. It's really about mental toughness. It certainly was tough though. The overall attrition rate is about 50% and the first time pass (don't have to repeat a phase) is about 20%. It certainly was cut throat from the perspective of the instructors. They'd just as soon fail you as look at you (while calling you every expletive in the book). It was good training though.

Medical School has paled in comparison as far as ruthlessness goes. But so has everything.

Some of it has been applicable too. At Ranger School, I learned that I can't function without sleep. As a result, I never pull all-nighters.

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That sounds better than organic chemistry. In fact, I'd rather be beaten with sticks than take organic chemistry.

Well, I can't say that I've had that hard of a job compared to a lot of you! I've done the same type of work for a long while now, but I'd have to say the Store Manager of a large consumer electronics retailer. It doesn't sound too bad but, I'll tell you what it was like (as I'm sure a lot of people can guess). Pressure from the top (what company doesn't have it), associates hate it... big surprise, but the customers, oh the customers. I have never been screamed at, cursed at, or had so many things thrown at me... yep electronics thrown at me several times! Also, black Friday was always fun. I would get to work around 3am and had to stay until that midnight. I encountered some nasty stuff. Basically, the lines were horrible. There was actually a time that someone defecated in between a display and a wall. Who do you think got to clean that up? I did lol. You'd also be surprised as to how many people have thrown up on me during black Friday too. ewwwww! Anyway, other than the constant threatening, screaming, and weirdness of it all, it wasn't so bad I did learn that if you didn't fix a person's problem right away, you'd better learn to duck! The only perk was the salary, but definitely not the hours.

ShyRem, I would agree with you. I'm not a parent, but I've seen how much work it is for my sister!

Working as a land surveyor in south Louisiana. Cutting through literally miles of trees, shrubs, and vines as you wade through muck, fight to see through the cloud of mosquitoes, and pray to god that was a stick and not a copperhead -_- Good comradery though.

I agree Ranger School owns everything else.

My worst: Construction in the summer heat (100 degrees) - Physical labor just absolutely destroys everything. You can't understand this until you work in the heat even only 8 hours a day. I didn't understand it, I'm glad I did it because even when I worked a 12+ hr sales day I realized I wasn't outside in the sun hammering nails and moving plywood.

2nd toughest: Sales. Not physically demanding but mentally. To stay positive and emotionally strong after losing a $1500 deal or having 25 people tell you no for 10 hours, and to still be able to perform at the same level as you did first thing in the morning is a rare quality. Less than 5% of sales staffs can do this, and they are paid well to do it.

One benefit from this is it allows me to study for 10+ hrs a day when I need to, which a lot of people say they can't handle mentally but I've gone through "sales mental training" and can handle frustration and mental exhaustion like Rocky Balboa could handle a beating.



Cut me Mick!

I would like to try ranger school just to see if I could make it. Never will, but I like to test my toughness and spirit.

loveoforganic said:

Working as a land surveyor in south Louisiana. Cutting through literally miles of trees, shrubs, and vines as you wade through muck, fight to see through the cloud of mosquitoes, and pray to god that was a stick and not a copperhead -_- Good comradery though.

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all of us who got to do horrible outdoor work are pretty lucky.

If things ever get tough then you just access those memories.

ArkansasRanger said:

That sounds better than organic chemistry. In fact, I'd rather be beaten with sticks than take organic chemistry.

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Lol.

Ochem isn't that bad, it is all about professors. I had an excellent professor that didn't try to trick us and was straight forward YET the people who do well in his course have scored high on MCAT bio.

I feel bad for people that don't like ochem because it is a great subject, it is just that some professors ruin it for people.

Besides giving "all natural" birth to 4 kids...staying up all day and night with a crying/no-sleep kid....I've got varicose veins from it for goodness sake!!!!! Helllllp!

BennieBlanco said:

all of us who got to do horrible outdoor work are pretty lucky.

If things ever get tough then you just access those memories.

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Yes I have to say, it's enjoyable in its own way though. Not that I want to do it again.

ShyRem said:

I'll be the boring one here. Most difficult? Mother. Challenging? Mother. Most emotionally and physically exhausting? Mother. With no grandparents nearby.

I've had other jobs. Crappy jobs, jobs where I got yelled at daily, jobs where I worked my butt off, sweated so much I lost 10 pounds a day... but nothing compares to being a parent. Most difficult, demanding, exhausting, emotional rollercoaster, unappreciated, and yet rewarding job. Ever. All rolled into one.

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Amen, sister. Here's a link to a cute little job description for mothers, in case you haven't seen it: http://cliffmama.com/momjob.html

A distant second is soldier in Saudi Arabia during Desert Storm. Aside from the SCUDs, that was surprisingly rather fun except for the fact that I missed my daughter like crazy.

I've done the construction worker bit. Actually, I was a roofer for a while in the south and it gets pretty hot. Physical work is somewhat cathartic though.

Probably my worst job, no, my worst job was on a milk farm.

Commercial milk farming is nasty and disgusting. I had to walk through the fields at ungodly hours, 3-4AM and bring the cows into a 100' area where they stand for two-three hours waiting to be ran through a milking machine (will talk of that in a bit). As you may imagine, cows **** and piss constantly. The confined area gets very messy, but luckily there is a huge lagoon where all the crap is pushed into with a tractor, shovels whatever. I had the awesome job of running the shovel, pushing crap into a lagoon, it was great...

Once the cows enter the milking area they are lined up on a platform. I had to clean the teets with Iodine and check for an infection called mastitis. This is done by briefly milking the cow to see if puss comes out instead of milk. If it does then obviously the cow couldn't be milked. At that point the milking machine is placed onto the cow and it does its thing until the cow is dry. Once again, this takes probably 10-15 minutes and yes, lots of crap gets piled up in the milking area too. I also had to shovel the **** out of the milking area as well.

Interestingly, all those who enjoy a nice cold glass of milk, it was common for the milker to fall off of the cow into a pile of crap. The milker knew no different and lots of crap and piss was sucked up into the milk. Yes, when you drink milk you can guarantee that at some point it had poo in it. Thank goodness for Louis Pasteur I guess.

After a short period of time cow poo just smells like ammonia. I guess the mind adapts to overcome.

It wasn't glorious by no means but it's what I did.

RB

Dont' assume that "traditional applicants" have had an "easy life" without struggle and hard work. Its offensive. Just because you're older doesn't mean you are better and above others younger than you.

Mopp22 said:

Dont' assume that "traditional applicants" have had an "easy life" without struggle and hard work. Its offensive. Just because you're older doesn't mean you are better and above others younger than you.

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OP has always had that "non-trad" arrogance on these threads

There are exceptions everywhere. I don't think anyone is implying that age alone is a sufficient barometer for hardship. However, in general, non-traditional students are people who took a longer path to medical school and in the process experienced the world beyond college, had good and bad experiences, perhaps catharsis, matured, and became wiser. That's not to say that this is always the case, but often it is. And I don't know about you, but in some aspects some of us wish we were not non-trad. There are certain advantages to being a traditional student, like starting to practice and making money in your early 30s rather than having to wait until you're almost 40 to start your life, at least in terms of financial liberties. So you don't have too much to envy here. Just be proud that you were able to stick to a plan that you chose and were able to follow up with it in a timely manner. That's the advantage of traditional students. We each have many positives and negatives...

And wouldn't I want to be graduating from medschool in about 1-2 years as I would have if I had followed the "plan"? I absolutely would. But my path has been different. So one of the "hardest jobs" of many non-trad students is to keep the motivation going despite the fact that sometimes you have to doubt yourself and question whether you do want to spend all that additional time in school to become a doctor or any other professional when your friends already have their degrees, shelters, and families. Taking Ochem can be bad. Taking ochem while you're pondering the meaning of your life is worse! Hahahaha. Ok, maybe you'll get what I am saying now. Maybe you'll get it in some years.

Hardest job was working in showworld on 8th ave in nyc porn place with live girls and porn movie booths my job was to mop the booth floors while yelling keep it moving fellas keep moving no p**sing is da booths fellas keep em movin boys hut hut hut

If I'd done things the "traditional way" I'd be in my second year of residency with just one more to go...

DRJJ1 said:

Hardest job was working in showworld on 8th ave in nyc porn place with live girls and porn movie booths my job was to mop the booth floors while yelling keep it moving fellas keep moving no p**sing is da booths fellas keep em movin boys hut hut hut

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Okay, you win.

Mopp22 said:

Dont' assume that "traditional applicants" have had an "easy life" without struggle and hard work. Its offensive. Just because you're older doesn't mean you are better and above others younger than you.

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No one on this thread has even remotely stated that.

You know you are reaching when you start out with "Don't assume".

If this thread offends you, I suggest investing in thicker skin.

Hardest job ever?..........

pleasing a woman.....(not in a sexual way )

....they are never satisfied.....

J DUB said:

Hardest job ever?..........

pleasing a woman.....(not in a sexual way )

....they are never satisfied.....

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You have misread the title, it says "hardest" not "impossible"

Ed is correct.

In general... non-trads will have a more difficult path.

Many work jobs and go to school, many have families, many had very difficult jobs before (Ranger school anyone), etc.

Many trads have only gone to high school and college.

Of course there are percentages that could flip (non trads having an easier time and trads having a more difficult path) but this is not the general case.

Just like, in general it is harder (*more difficult path*) for an immigrant to succeed (*what is success? another thread*) in America than someone who grows up here.

Rule of speaking in general... There are always outliers (5% extreme cases on each side of the spectrum), when we talk in general we mean the middle 70% + that make up the group.

I disagree with Ed in saying they have it "easy", no need to demean the other group. Just state that typically non trads have a more difficult path (same idea, but a bit more peaceful).

BennieBlanco said:

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That's hilarious! Especially since all the equipment in my lab looks exactly like the bottom one and I have spent so much time just trying to collect data.

It's got to be a tie between the long hours and weeks and months away from home as a long-haul truck driver, braving Wyoming's blizzards and the northeast's terrible snow,

or working as a laborer in a Pepsi warehouse, with no a/c and no heat, lifting thousands of cases of soda onto pallets by hand, loading and unloading trucks with forlifts, 10-12 hours a day with some 14 hour days in the summer (and up to 115 degrees inside), while taking a full load of classes in the morning. It was managable because I had every Saturday and Sunday off. Saturdays were for me...Physics and A&P owned my Sundays and my free time during the week. I maintained a 3.75 GPA while doing all of that. I developed peripheral neuropathy in my left wrist and arm from driving the forklift and doing all of that lifting. After 7 months away from the job my arm is finally healing. By the time I finished my bio degree in May of this year the job had worn me down. I was so glad to give my notice. Working 40+ hours a week, plus floating school, son, and gf, was really too much. I will NEVER do a manual labor job like that again...I'd rather go back to trucking.

Other interesting jobs include working in cotton fields, bridge inspector for Federal Highway Admn, and package handling and customer service at FedEx. Maybe all of this workin experience might help me to stand out from the wet-behind-the-ears 22 yearolds applying for med school.

EdLongshanks said:

A post that Bennie made in another thread got me thinking about this. As non-trads we have more life experience than our fellow students. Some of them have, so far, had life pretty easy and look forward to med-school like an expectant mother looks forward to natural childbirth.

I, for one, have a different attitude. I've had some really hard times in my life and the descriptions that I hear from med school (even the ones with Chopin backgroud music) aren't very horrifying. I doubt that I am alone.

My question is for the residents, attendings, and current med students. Is your current life harder than the experiences in this thread?

I'll start it. The hardest job that I ever had was in the fields of west-side Fresno, California. I showed up in the parking lot where the field workers gathered and followed them to the fields that they were working that day. I was the only person there who did not use Spanish as a first language. They taught me many new words. When I repeated them to my best friend - the son of the pastor of the local Iglesias De Cristo church, he turned pale.

The worst job I ever had was Ron's Jons, portable toilets. We're number 1 in the number 2 business. Rubber boots are bad insulators and when the temperature in Midland, TX reached 9 degress Fahrenheit, my feet hurt very bad. Minimum wage did not provide enough money to buy good boots.

The longest hours that I have put in were the weeks before the big oil show for the year. That was the first year that graphical programming for Unix had advanced to the place that we could actually show pictures of the data in GUI format. I spent days at work, catnapping on the couch, while I fixed last minute bugs. My wife and children saw very little of me.

The worst environment that I ever worked in was with a bunch of criminals who were either just out of jail or soon returning. They all chain smoked in the little office and if the job had gone on very long I would have ended up with emphysema. The FBI came in one day and arrested my team lead. They'd have fist fights in the middle of the work day. I couldn't quit because this was my only way to gain entrance to the sanctified halls of Unix programming and I desperately needed both the money and the experience. The paychecks eventually started bouncing. It took me 3 more months before I found another job. Bad days, bad days.

I think most of us could tell similar stories. Somehow med school just doesn't sound that bad.

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I worked as an Outdoor Recreation leader, teaching wilderness survival, rock climbing, whitewater kayaking, and other activities. It was every bit as fun as it sounds, but it was hard work. I logged almost 100 hours per week year-round, and more during summer when I led "outward bound" style camps. I worked 7 days a week, and besides teaching (which is stressful even when it's based upon teaching something FUN), it was physically exhausting.

Then I found a job (long story) as a surgical technologist. I hadn't gone to school for formal training, so it took me four months working for free to prove that I was capable of doing the job. I had to work for two years before challenging the national certification exam that those who studied for this passed before being employed. In the meantime, I worked on my feet 8-16 hours/day, depending on the OR schedule. Until I worked in a hospital with a union, I often didn't have lunch breaks; I just ate whatever I brought to work in the few minutes that my instruments were in the autoclave and the OR was being cleaned. If the surgeon ran late, I stayed late. There were a few surgeons who booked an OR for 16 hours, working with another surgeon so they'd each have time to eat, dictate their notes, and relax. I was the youngest and least senior person, so I was lucky if I got a true break, since the surgical center cut back on full-time staff for the best possible profit margin.

I was bitter about all of this until I decided that I wanted to be a physician. I went back to school full-time, worked out a great schedule (since the center was respectful of employees' educational goals), and now that I've been back in school for almost four years to finish my degree, I find myself lingering even when my shift is over. Now that it's not my destiny, I enjoy my crappy job! I appreciate how much I can learn here that I wouldn't learn until residency as a surgeon or anesthesiologist, and I can spend time with patients that I won't be able to spend as a physician.

I've cleaned soybean fields with a machete, I've crawled on my hands and knees crushing worms on strawberry plants with my bare hands, I've moved irrigation pipes, I've cleaned out chicken barns, I've worked for monster bosses who screamed, I've taught statistics at 8 in the morning to apathetic college students, and more.

The hardest job I have ever undertaken -- and it's not a close decision -- was motherhood. The amount of stamina, patience, and effort required is staggering. I'm not regretful at all, because of the wonderful hours outweigh the terrible ones, but those dark hours can be dark.

That said, I salute all the horrible jobs others have had -- and hope the future brings us all beds of roses!

Hey Volks,

Thought I would share with you my hardest life experinces. I was born in Baghdad/ Iraq under Saddam hussein regime, my two uncles were excuted because they were opposition to him resulting in my sister fired from her job(it doesn't make sensce to alot of americans but they will hunt you down even if a relative stood up against saddam). I went to dental school after 2000 in ramadi where falluja is (military people who served in Iraq knows what I'm talking about!!) those college years were disastrous, IEDs, car bombs, al-qaeda checkpoints, I'm shia in the middle of sunni extremist, was stuck in cross fire between al-qaeda and U.S. army so many frickin times, saw dead bodies all over, windows at classroom smashes for IED explosions. To make story short, I graduated under unbelivable circumstances.

After I graduate, I left my dental education aside for a while and started working with the U.S. army as arabic translator. My job was classified the most dangerous civilian job on earth for 2006 and 07. I can't count how many times we were attacked! (sniper when you set up a checkpoint, IED when you're on streets rolling, rockets when you go back to base and AH suicide bombers who attack you out of no f**** where. I wanted to serve my country(Iraq) and help those who helped us get rid of Saddam. My family had to move 3 times because of my job and how dangerous it was. After two years of working in hell, I finally got the visa to the U.S.(after 3 security clearences and 20 letters of recommendation including a U.S. gerneal).

I came to the U.S. two years ago right when the depression started. I worked as construction worker, fast food resturants, dental assistant and some other. I did some soul searching and I want to be a doctor not a dentist, I always wanted to be MD and I decided to take that step.

Now, I joined the U.S. army reserves and will be shipped to basic traning in feb(inshallah, God willing) my job in the army will be LPN/LVN so that would be great for med school application(I hope). After I finish my army nursing training I will start taking my pre-med then MCAT.

Sorry for this long story, but my life experinces taught me so much, the views of burned decapitated people is still haunting me. Whoever sees death values life, and thats why I want to be a MD.

Thanks and God bless!

<p>God bless you, dentist82!</p>

Talk about a tough act to follow....

Thanks, and God bless you too.

EdLongshanks said:

What you just said is completely opaque to me. I don't understand it at all. Granted, I have a biological disability that prohibits me from being a mother. But my fatherhood experiences simply don't seem to be that difficult.

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no offense,ed, but if you didn't find parenting that difficult it probably means your wife did most of the work. you should thank her and bring her roses.

bennieblanco said:

you have misread the title, it says "hardest" not "impossible"

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jinx520 said:

no offense,ed, but if you didn't find parenting that difficult it probably means your wife did most of the work. you should thank her and bring her roses.

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qft

EdLongshanks said:

What you just said is completely opaque to me. I don't understand it at all. Granted, I have a biological disability that prohibits me from being a mother. But my fatherhood experiences simply don't seem to be that difficult.

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I don't think it has to do with male vs. female (and I trust your mentioning that was merely a rhetorical device); it relates to being the primary care giver. If you haven't been the primary care giver of your children, than I can understand that you might not understand this. But in my case, it's true, and I don't think I'm the only one.

In fact, I've never talked to a woman who has both done full time primary caregiving and also held a full time job (not necessarily at the same time) who said that the job was harder. To a woman (and probably stay-at-home dads would say the same thing), they find being the primary caregiver in a family harder.